Mirren: Shakespeare is boundless

Helen Mirren thinks William Shakespeare’s work is “constantly interpretable”.

The Academy Award-winning actress is a huge fan of plays written by the English Renaissance author.

Helen believes Shakespearean subject matters never go out of fashion, which is why his work is still cherished.

“Coriolanus you can do as a play proselytising for socialism and as a play proselytising for feudalism or even capitalism. That is the extraordinary nature of his work,” she explained to BBC Newsnight in honour of the late writer’s 450th birthday.

“It is always multifaceted it is never rigid, constantly interpretable… you can do anything with Shakespeare and it never breaks.”

Unfortunately the 68-year-old actress has never landed a Shakespearean role she’s been dying to grab for decades.

Helen confesses she still laments the fact she never starred in an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

“I would love to play Juliet … too late … but I do practice Juliet from time to time. I was never asked,” she shared.

“It broke my heart especially when I realised I was in my 30s and 40s and I realised it’s not going to happen now.”

Helen then joked Shakespeare is so awesome, “children should not be allowed to read [his work] until they are 15 years old”.

The star confessed discovering his plays later in life made her appreciate them more.

“I was taken to see a production of Hamlet when I was about 15 and was completely overwhelmed by the experience. It was magical to me,” she recalled.

“It was just such an electrifying experience for me that I immediately went to find a musty old copy of Shakespeare that my parents had and started reading it.

“That was the moment I realised that that was what I wanted to do.”